70 protesters killed, 500 wounded in Kiev violence

Thursday

Feb 20, 2014 at 2:00 PMFeb 20, 2014 at 2:00 PM

Tossing firebombs, protesters advanced upon police lines Thursday in Ukraine's embattled capital. Government snipers shot back, killing at least 70 people and wounding hundreds of others, according to a protest doctor.

Video footage on Ukrainian television showed shocking scenes Thursday of protesters being cut down by gunfire, lying on the pavement as comrades rushed to their aid. Trying to protect themselves with shields, teams of protesters carried bodies away on sheets of plastic or planks of wood.

One of the wounded, volunteer medic Olesya Zhukovskaya, sent out a brief Twitter message — "I'm dying" — after being shot in the neck. Dr. Oleh Musiy, the medical coordinator for the protesters, said she was in serious condition after being operated on.

Protesters were also seen leading policemen with their hands held high around the sprawling protest camp in central Kiev.

Ukraine's Interior ministry says 67 police were captured in all — it was not clear how. An opposition lawmaker said they were being held in Kiev's occupied city hall.

President Viktor Yanukovych and the opposition protesters who are demanding his resignation are locked in an epic battle over the identity of

Ukraine, a nation of 46 million that has divided loyalties between Russia and the West. Parts of the country — mostly in its western cities — are in open revolt against Yanukovych's central government, while many in eastern Ukraine back the president and favor strong ties with Russia, their former Soviet ruler.

Protesters across the country are also upset over corruption in

Ukraine, the lack of democratic rights and the country's ailing economy, which just barely avoided bankruptcy with a $15 billion loan from Russia.

At least 101 people have died this week in the clashes in Kiev, a sharp reversal in three months of mostly peaceful protests. Now neither side appears willing to compromise or in control of the streets. The opposition is insisting on Yanukovych's resignation and an early election while the embattled president is apparently prepared to fight until the end.

Thursday was the deadliest day yet at the sprawling protest camp on Kiev's Independence Square, also called the Maidan. Snipers were seen shooting at protesters there — and video footage showed at least one sniper wearing a

Ukraine riot police uniform.

Musiy, the protest doctor, told the AP that at least 70 protesters were killed Thursday and over 500 were wounded in the clashes — and that the death toll could well rise further.